The Wolf and the Lioness
by Werecatoflondon
Summary: Medieval au. Jake Peralta is a ten year old with scandalous origins beginning his training to become a Knight under the strict mentorship of Sir Raymond Holt. Jake and his fellow oddball Pages must overcome the prejudices of both their fellows and superiors, and a young Princess with a well hidden wild side may or may not help matters.
1. Chapter 1

"You'll be a good boy won't you Jake?" His mother's voice quavered she spoke. "I will mother." Jake replied in the same tone. He had been looking forward to this day for as long as he could remember, yet in his childish excitement he had not anticipated that this day would also involve a painful farewell. despite the sadness of separation and trepidation of what was to come Jake was nothing short of thrilled that this day he had been preparing for was finally here.

He held his mother's hand as they walked only letting go when they approached the front doors of the manor not wanting to appear to be a scared little boy in front of the squire who had come to fetch him. Outside waited his Uncle and the squire who was already on horseback with Jake's horse was ready and waiting beside him. His Uncle gave him his familiar disapproving glare as he spoke. "Now Jacob you will behave yourself and do everything you new master orders you to do without your usual cheek. You will work, and train hard do you understand me?" Jake bit his lip fighting back an angry retort. "Yes Uncle." He replied sullenly. Jake could tell that his Uncle really wanted to reprimand him but felt that it wouldn't be a very politic thing to do in front of the squire so his simply grimaced at Jake before turning on his heals and strolling back into manor.

Jake turned to his Mother her eyes were filling with tears. "I know that you will make me proud." She said her voice trembling as she spoke. "Remember that whatever happens I love you so very much." "I love you too Mother." Jake said choking back tears of his own as his mother hugged him.

With great effort Jake broke away from his mother's embrace and mounted his horse then he rode away with the squire. Jake turned his head back to get one last look at his mother she was not even trying to hide her tears as she waved him farewell.

Jake turned to the squire. He was a large black boy in his mid or late teens Jake couldn't quite tell with no hair on his head and a friendly smile on his face. "It's natural to be upset leaving your Mother for the first time." The squire said kindly. "I'm not upset!" Jake retorted, wiping away his remaining tears. The squire chuckled, Jake shot him a reproachful look and the squire straitened his features. "My name is Squire Terrance Jeffords but please call me Terry." Terry said. "Unless Sir Holt or any other senior knights or nobles are around then it's Squire Jeffords."

"Page Jake Peralta." He introduced himself and as he did he felt his anxiety evaporate and his excitement return in full force. He was a Page now, he was finally beginning his training to become a knight. It was all he had dreamed about ever since he was a small boy and his mother told him stories of their adventures and heroic deeds, he was confident that would soon be following in their footsteps.

Terry noticed the pride in his voice and gave him an amused look. "You've got many hard years ahead of you boy before you become a Knight. The trainings tough and few who start it make it." Jake was unperturbed by the squire's warning. "I've already received weapons training from the Captain of my Uncle's household guard and I am already a skilled horseman as you can see." Jake did not mean his words to come off as braggingly as they did, he could see Terry's increased amusement.

They turned out of the gates of the estate onto the highway, there were only a few other travellers on the road mostly carts from the nearby farms and villages taking their wares to be sold at market and a couple of errand riders bearing the King's sigil. The trees along the side of the road shaded the travellers from the early autumn sun.

"We should arrive at The Castle by tomorrow evening." Terry informed him. Jake nodded. They rode on in silence the scenery seldom changing as they travelled.

They reached The Castle on the eve of the next day as Terry had predicted. Jake's body ached from the long ride and he was drooping in the saddle by the time they reached the stable yard. Terry gave him a sympathetic look as he attempted an elegant dismount which turned out be more of a tumble off the horse.

A stable-hand came out of the stables and Terry gave him two coins. "Normally you would be expected to tend to your own horse after a ride." Said Terry "But this evening I'll make an exception as it's your first evening and you look like your about to faint." Jake let out a moan of gratitude as he followed him into the castle.

Terry lead him down a corridor to a large room filled with tables and benches occupied with pages and squires enjoying their evening repast. Jake served himself a large bowl of stew from a caldron at the hearth with some bread and hard cheese then Terry lead him over to a table in the corner of the room where four other pages were sitting. They turned to look at the newcomers as they approached. "This is Jake Peralta." Terry announced. "Jake these are your fellow pages: Charles Boyle." He gestured at a small plain faced boy with short black hair. "Rosa Diaz." Gesturing at the only girl at the table, she gave them a scowl then returned to her meal. "And these are." Terry let out a groan. "Hitchcock and Scully." gesturing at the two large and obviously much older boys who did not even look up from their dinners.

Jake sat down on the bench next to Charles, he seemed to be the friendliest of the bunch and mumbled a thanks to Terry. Terry smiled back at him. "No problem Jake. I've got to go and report to Sir Holt now, I'll see you all tomorrow at dawn." He waved at the group before he strolled out of the mess hall only stopping to grab a slab of bread and cheese on the way.

As soon as Terry was gone Jake began to wolf down his stew, he hadn't eaten since midday and he was ravenous. He gave his fellow pages a nervous glance, he had not been around children his own age in a very long time, not since Gina and her mother had been banished from the estate after his grandmother died. "So how long have you guys been here?" He asked conversationally. "Rosa and I came about a week ago." Charles replied eagerly. "But don't worry!" he said quickly in response to Jake's anxious look. "We are not due to start training in earnest till tomorrow. Sir Holt wanted to wait until everyone was here." Jake felt relived. At least it seemed he hadn't missed out on much.

Another boy a few years older than Jake approached the table. He had a cocky grin on his face and a glint in his eyes that gave Jake an immediate sense of foreboding. "What's up Dingdongs? The boy sneered. He flashed a taunting smile at Jake who felt a simmering anger burn though his veins. He stood up and tried to make himself as tall as he could. He heard Charles let out a gasp as he spoke. "Who's asking?" He hoped he had sounded braver than he felt, the other boy was bigger than him. Pages and squires from the other tables started to gather round in anticipation.

"Squire Pembroke." The boy responded. "So, you're the latest loser to join the losers' squad. What are you, a bastard like Diaz, a runt like Boyle or an idiot like those two lumps or are you all three?" "I'm not a bastard!" Rosa snarled. Jake felt his indignation grow. "My name is Jake Peralta and I would appreciate it if you did not talk to my companions like that!"

The crowd let out a collective gasp, Pembroke seemed to be briefly taken aback then he recovered himself and gave Jake a sneer so nasty that it almost made him recoil. "Your Roger Peralta's son. I now see why you are in the loser squad; no other knight would take on a disgraced whoremongering hedge knight's brat whose greatest achievement was crawling into the bed of a duchess's daughter!"

The whole room went eerily silent. Pembroke had gone too far. Jake had never been so furious in his entire life. He had heard all about the circumstances of his birth many times from his uncle who viewed his existence as a stain of dishonour on the family, but to hear it from this arrogant cockheaded stranger was too much. Jake pulled back his fist and plunged it with as much force as he could muster right into the middle of Pembroke's smug face.

"What is going on here?" A deep male voice bellowed into the silence. Everybody in the room turned towards the doorway where the voice had come from a Large black man with greying hair stood there his face livid. "What it going on here? He repeated. "Someone answer me now!" eventually Rosa spoke. "Sir Holt, Squire Pembroke came over to our table and insulted us, Page Peralta stood up to him and Pembroke insulted Peralta's parents, so Peralta punched in in the face."

"He didn't have a choice Sir. If Peralta hadn't done anything everyone here would say he was a coward and it would have ruined his reputation." Boyle said in a trembling voice. Jake felt a rush of affection for them, they barely knew him yet there they were defending him against their master. Holt strolled towards them. Jake felt like a pit had just opened in his stomach, this was not how he had imagined his first meeting with his new master and he could tell by the way Holt was looking at him that he had made an appalling first impression.

"Squire Pembroke is what Page Diaz said true? Holt asked. Pembroke shifted his feet and averted his gaze from Holt's. "Yes Sir." He mumbled. "Apologize to Peralta." Holt Ordered. "Then you may leave. I will be informing Dame Wunch about this."

Pembroke turned to Jake. "My apologies Peralta." He said in a tone that sent shivers down Jake's spine, then he stormed out of the mess hall.

Holt then turned to Jake, who quaked in his boots.

"You have managed to make a spectacle in front of your peers on your first evening here. Everything you say or do now has consequences, often those will be far deeper than you first imagine. You would all do well to remember this: the consequences of your actions not only affect you they also have ramifications for your masters and on your fellow pages. Now go to your dormitories you all have a hard day ahead you tomorrow."

"Thank you for sticking up for me." Jake said to Charles as they climbed the stairs to their dormitory. Charles looked back at him confused. "You stuck for us, it was only fair." Then his voice took on a more serious note. "I should warn you Pembroke is a dangerous enemy. his family are extremely wealthy and have a lot of sway in the inner circles at court.

Jake scoffed. "I'm not scared of him." Charles looked both awed and concerned as they entered the dormitory. The dormitory contained four pallet beds two of which were already occupied by Hitchcock and Scully who were already asleep still wearing the same clothes they were wearing at dinner. One corner of the room was closed off by a set of screens Jake barely had time to wonder at this when Rosa stormed into the room headed strait to the closed off area. Charles Called; "Night Rosa!" After her. She only grunted in response.

Jake went over to his pallet his pack lay beside it, he opened it and pulled out a night shirt deciding he would unpack tomorrow he was exhausted; the long ride and the excitement at dinner had worn him out. He climbed into his bed and immediately feel asleep.

Author's note: This is my first story ever so please be kind and make all criticism constructive.

Thank you


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jake felt as if he had barely closed his eyes when he heard Terry yell: "Rise and Shine everyone! He groaned, it could not dawn already. Charles was already out of bed and pulling on his trousers. "You better hurry up." he warned Jake. "otherwise you'll miss breakfast." He climbed out of bed and went to his pack, Charles shook his head. "Your training livery is in the trunk at the end of you bed." He informed him. Jake gave a grunt of thanks and opened the trunk and pulled out a pair of plain trousers, tunic and jerkin, he put them on and followed Charles and the others out of the room.

After eating a hasty breakfast of porridge, they all lined up in the practice yards waiting for Sir Holt. Jake felt some trepidation, his first encounter with his new master had not gone well at all he could only hope that Holt would give him another chance.

Holt Marched out onto the practice yard with Squire Jeffords and a girl who Jake recognised behind him. His heart leapt with joy. Gina! What was she doing here? Jake wondered as he fought off the urge to run up to his old friend and Hug her, an act he knew Holt would consider one of gross indecency so instead he gave he a friendly smile which she returned.

Attention!" Holt yelled, and the five pages stood strait. Holt walked down the line inspecting each of them in turn. When he reached Jake, he paused for longer then he had the others, he felt his unease grow, those stony eyes gave nothing away. When he finally he moved onto Charles he felt body loosen.

When he finished his inspection, Holt spoke to his pages. "Now you are all present your training can finally begin. Your pageship will consist of martial training, which you will do each morning regardless of the season. Your afternoon's, however, will be more varied. From Springfest till the Harvest festival you will have training in horsemanship, hunting and hawking in the afternoons. After the harvest festival you will begin your instruction in courtly etiquette as well as academic studies."

Jake groaned. He hated studying. Letters always jumped about when he tried to read them, and he despised been forced to sit still while a tutor droned on about some boring subject.

"You've got a problem with that Peralta?" Said Holt sharply "No sir." He replied hastily. "Good." The old knight responded. "You are aspiring knights not common foot soldiers, there is far more too being a knight than military prowess."

He then stood in front of Jake and glowered down at him, Jake felt a lump of apprehension form at the back of his throat. "Now Peralta." Holt said. "Squire Jeffords tells me that you have already received some training in swordplay correct?" "Yes sir." Jake replied eagerly. "I have had training from my uncle's Captain of Guard. he said that I was one of the most talented swordsmen he'd seen."

"well then." Said Holt. "I'm sure you would like to demonstrate your impressive skills. Go to the weapons shed and get two wooden staves, you will be sparring against me today." As he spoke, he pointed at a shed on the other side of the yard. Jake raced to the shed, he was so full of excitement at the opportunity too show off his skills too his master and fellows pages he neglected to notice the apprehensive look on his old friend's face.

Jake threw one of the staves at Holt, he could not help but be impressed when the old knight caught it deftly in one hand. "Now Peralta I'll come at you and you try to fend me off you understand that." Jake nodded and got into the defensive position.

Holt lunged at him, he parried the blow easily. Holt lunged at him again, this time he hit Jake in the abdomen knocking him into the mud. "Dead." said Holt dispassionately. "No." Jake gasped as he struggled to his feet. Holt knocked him back down again as soon as he got up. Its not fair Jake thought he's not even giving me a chance. Holt seemed to read his thoughts. "An opponent on the battlefield will never go easy on you Peralta. I expected better of you than this." Jake heard the disappointment and distain in his master's voice and an anger born of humiliation spread though him. He got back onto his feet his rage giving him energy he had not previously had and when Holt lunged at him, he was able to fend him off. They sparred for Jake did not know how long, occasionally Jake was able to parry Holt's attacks but most times Holt bypassed his defences with ease.

Jake almost cried with relief when Holt yelled; "Enough!" He let his stave fall to ground, his body was dripping with sweat and he was panting like his uncle's dog on a hot day. Gina came over to him and offered him a waterskin, he took it gratefully and drank eagerly. When he had drunk his fill, he turned his gaze to Holt, who much to Jake's chagrin didn't appear to have even broken a sweat.

The old knight addressed the four other pages: "Have any of you got any comments on Peralta's performance?" There was a tense silence, then Rosa spoke. "His technique was erratic, and his footwork was occasionally sloppy. It's apparent that he's not without skill, I don't this any of us could have done better."

"That was very well put Diaz." Said Holt. "Now you lot, pair get yourselves a stave and squire Jeffords will take you through some basic moves." He then turned to Jake. "I hope you learned your lesson Peralta. You are good I grant you, but you still have a great deal to learn. You are excused from this training exercise however I would advise you to stay and observe your fellows."

Jake sat down a bench with Gina, watching the others, he had never felt so humiliated in his life. Why oh why had he bragged about his previous training, he should have known that he was no match for a master knight like Holt and now his fellow pages thought he was an arrogant moron. He bit his lip in frustration.

"Your going to have some lovely bruises in the morning." Gina commented. He glared at her. She smiled back at him. "Oh, come on its not that bad you did really well. Holts been a knight for thirty years and fought in as many battles and all you've was a little training from a guardsman who was about since before man first bashed rocks together and hasn't fought in a real fight since then. Anyway, that's not important. Aren't you going to ask me how I've been doing since your uncle kicked me out?"

Jake laughed he'd missed her more than he had realised.

She continued. "After Nana died my mother and I came to court to find a new lady for her to serve. She eventually found employment with Lady Gildenhorn you remember her, she and her daughter Jenny came to visit Nanna once. unfortunately, most ladies aren't as kind to their servant's children as Nana was, so I earned my keep by running errands for whoever would give me a few pennies. Luckily, I had special skills very few of my fellows had..."

"What were they?" Jake asked. Gina rolled her eyes at him. "I could read and write stupid. Most servants can't, I also have many other talents that few are blessed with. Anyway, my prodigious skillset soon made me the most sought-after errand runner in the castle. After a few months Holt employed me as an assistant."

Jake smiled to himself Gina was still Gina. They continued to chat for the next hour while the rest of the pages ran through basic moves, he occasionally glanced at them. Rosa was by far the best. Charles wasn't too bad it was obvious he was working harder than the rest of them combined. Hitchcock and Scully were just plain hopeless, how they managed to get this far was a mystery to Jake, they were probably connected to someone very influential.

When the hour was up Holt called them all together. "As well training, you are also expected to perform various duties for myself and squire Jeffords as well as tasks related to your training. Peralta after your afternoon session with stablemaster Burren you are to tidy up the weapons shed. Good day to you all you are dismissed.

Jake's life very quickly fell into a routine of rigorous training, Drills and chores. A few weeks after his eventful arrival he was cleaning out the weapons shed, a task he was given an awful lot as it was Holt's favourite punishment for cheek, when he noticed one of the practice swords was missing. He went back outside into the practice yard to investigate the missing weapons whereabouts. Much to his surprise it was a girl about the same age him swinging the sword at a practice dummy. it was apparent to Jake that she had never spared with a real opponent. He went back into the shed to grab a practice blade and quietly approached the girl from behind. "That swords wrong for you." He said.

Author's note: This is my first story ever so please be kind and make all criticism constructive.

Thank you


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The girl spun around swinging her practice sword wildly, Jake parried her clumsy blow easily. The girl stared at him in horror, Jake took advantage of her shock and lunged her, so the blunted point of his blade hovered barely an inch from her chest. "Never let your guard down." He told her. He swung his sword at her again this time her blade met his own and a glint of triumph flashed in her eyes, it soon faded when Jake pushed her sword out of the way with his own and pointed it at her throat, she recovered quickly and lunged at him again. This girl's got spirit, he thought even if she has no technique yet.

They continued like this till the sky began to darken. The girl attempting to break Jake's defences and Jake parrying her at every turn and occasionally giving her pointers, he was impressed by how much she improved even in their short session by end of which the girl was drenched in sweat and panting.

"Not bad for yer first time." Jake said then immediately regretted his words and cursed himself for an idiot. That was not how a page was supposed to speak to a lady, and a lady this girl almost definitely was. Everything about her seamed to scream it now he came to think of it from her looks to the was she held herself even in her current state of dishevelment.

Much to his surprise the girl smiled at him. "I thank you good sir." She replied with mirth in her voice and they both burst out laughing then she turned serious. "I mean it, thank you. I begged my father for ages to let me train to fight but he refused so I decided to take matters into my own hands."

Her words gave him a new sense of admiration for her, to go against her father's will must have taken some serious resolve. There was an awkward pause. "So…" she said. "how often should we meet for practice?"

Jake was rather taken aback. "I didn't say this would be a regular thing. I have loads of other duties already and I am sure you have lots of whatever you ladies do to occupy yourselves." Now it was the girls turn to be affronted. "Well I'm so sorry to waste your valuable time." She replied angrily. "You said that if I was to actually learn how to fight I can't just swing a sword at a dummy and you're the only person that can help me.

Jake thought about it. "Well…" He said hesitantly. "I suppose we could meet once a week but in return you will have to help me clean and organize the weapons shed so I have the time to teach you." The girl's face lit up with excitement. "Yes, yes of course it's only fair that I do something for you in return. Shall we meet this time next week? Anyway, I'm really sorry I've got to go now before my governess returns from her trip to town." She kissed him on the cheek then hurried away.

He stood there for a long while dazed and very confused. What had just happened? Who was this eccentric noble-girl? Most importantly How on earth was he supposed to get punished with the same punishment the same time every week without Holt or Terry, who were both very perceptive getting suspicious.

He needn't have worried because as well as been regarded as one of the most skilful of the young pages he was also regarded as the most troublesome so getting punished with extra chores by Holt was never a problem. As for getting the same punishment he had to thank Amy (for that was her name, she told him at the beginning of their first official training session.) She was a perfectionist and was absolutely appalled by his, well more particularly his lack of organisational skills and insisted on doing the entire job herself.

A few weeks into their sessions They, or rather she was cleaning the shed after a sparring session when he jokingly asked her. "Are you really a lady or a cleaning wench impersonating one?" She gave him a by that time familiar amused/exasperated look and said; "If even half the cleaning wenches had the same dedication to its cleanliness as I do the vermin population of this castle would not exceed the human one." They both laughed. "So, you are not denying that you are a secret cleaning wench my lady."

"Well..." She responded. "Even if I were a cleaning wench, you young knight-to-be would be bound by your honour to treat me as a lady if you are indeed bound by honour." Jake was just about to wittily respond when the door creaked open to reveal Squire Pembroke who was nicknamed "The Vulture" by the pages because of his tendency to take the credit that was due to others.

He smiled maliciously as he swept off his hat and bowed deeply. "My Princess." He said in an oily voice. "May I ask why I find you in this humble shed accompanied only by a lowly errant boy. Forgive me your highness, though I for one are assured of the perfect innocence of this situation your most exalted father and honourable brothers may not be so easily convinced should news of this reach them."

Amy stared unflinchingly at Pembroke. "Well then my Lord Pembroke." She said in a voice as blank as her gaze. "If you are indeed convinced of the perfect innocence of this situation as you say you are then it is unlikely that you will find it necessary to inform anyone that you discovered me engaged in any act of impropriety. If you do decide that you are honour-bound to report this regardless I beseech you that you tell them the truth that Lord Peralta is entirely blameless in this matter and has only been tutoring me in swordsmanship at my behest."

She then turned to Jake; her eyes were full of sorrow. "I thank you for your service to me Lord Peralta. I apologise for the inconvenience that I have caused you." With that she departed leaving Jake and Pembroke alone.

Jake felt as though a rock had suddenly dropped from his throat to the bottom of his stomach. He looked up at Pembroke his eyes blazing red with hate while Pembroke's were glowing as if Winterfest had come early. "Well Peralta, I'd run off to your dormitory now and start packing your bag. I have no doubt that you will be banished by morning." He then turned and walked away whistling to himself as he went.


End file.
